Automated aggregation and comparison of individual spending relative to population of similar users

Abstract

A system and method compares a user's aggregated spending transactions with those of the population. The system and method aggregates the user's spending transactions, and compares with the corresponding population aggregated spending transactions.

1 . A computer-implemented method of comparing a user's spending transactions to population spending transactions, each spending transaction having a payee, a date, and an amount, the method comprising: 
 aggregating the user's spending transactions with respect to at least one attribute of the user's spending transactions to obtain an aggregated spending amount of the user;    determining a population aggregated spending amount corresponding to the user's aggregated spending amount, the population aggregated spending amount derived from spending transactions of members of the population and having attributes that correspond to the at least one attribute of the user's spending transactions; and    generating a comparison of the user's aggregated spending amount and the population aggregated spending amount.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising saving the user's spending transactions persistently in a database.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein aggregating the user's spending transactions comprises aggregating the user's spending transactions based on time period.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein aggregating the user's spending transactions comprises: 
 generating categorized spending transactions based on the user's spending transactions and central categorization mapping data, the central categorization mapping data comprising payees and corresponding categories; and    aggregating the categorized spending transactions based on category.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving the user's data at a server, the server being geographically separated from the user, the user's data comprising the user's profile and the user's spending transactions.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the user's data further comprise at least one selective criterion, and wherein determining a population aggregated spending amount comprises: 
 identifying qualified members of the population, each qualified member meeting the selective criterion; and    determining a population aggregated spending amount corresponding to the user's aggregated spending amount, the population aggregated spending amount derived from spending transactions of the qualified members and having attributes that correspond to the at least one attribute of the user's spending transactions.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the selective criterion requires member's profile to match the user's profile, and wherein identifying qualified members of the population comprises: 
 identifying members with profiles matching the user's profile as the qualified members.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein receiving the user's data comprises periodically receiving the user's data.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein an identifier is associated with the user's profile, and wherein uploading the user's data comprises uploading the user's profile once and periodically uploading the user's spending transactions and the identifier.  
     
     
         10 . A computer-implemented method of comparing a user's aggregated spending amount to corresponding population aggregated spending amount, the method comprising: 
 determining the corresponding population aggregated spending amount based on the user's aggregated spending amount and population spending transactions, each spending transaction having a payee, a date, and an amount; and    generating a comparison of the user's aggregated spending amount and the corresponding population aggregated spending amount.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising receiving the user's data at a server, the server being geographically separated from the user, the user's data comprising the user's profile and the user's aggregated spending amount.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the user's data further comprise at least one selective criterion and at least one aggregative criterion, and wherein determining the corresponding population aggregated spending amount comprises: 
 identifying qualified members of the population, each qualified member meeting the selective criterion; and    determining the corresponding population aggregated spending amount based on spending transactions of the qualified members and the aggregative criterion.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the selective criterion comprises a qualification of member's profile based on the user's profile, and wherein identifying qualified members of the population comprises identifying qualified members based on the qualified members' profiles.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein receiving the user's data is performed periodically.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein an identifier is associated with the user's profile, and wherein uploading the user's data comprises uploading the user's profile once and uploading the user's aggregated spending amount and the identifier periodically.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising saving the user's aggregated spending amount persistently in a database.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 sending central categorization mapping data by a server, or portion thereof to a client computer, the central categorization mapping data comprising payees and corresponding categories, the server being geographically separated from the client computer, the sent central categorization mapping data being used to generate the user's aggregated spending amount; and    receiving the user's aggregated spending amount.    
     
     
         18 . A system for comparing a user's spending transactions to population spending transactions, each spending transaction having a payee, a date, and an amount, comprising: 
 a processor for executing programs; and    a central server executable by the processor, the server including: 
 instructions for aggregating the user's spending transactions with respect to at least one attribute of the user's spending transactions to obtain an aggregated spending amount of the user;  
 instructions for determining a population aggregated spending amount corresponding to the user's aggregated spending amount, the population aggregated spending amount derived from spending transactions of members of the population and having attributes that correspond to the at least one attribute of the user's spending transactions; and  
 instructions for generating a comparison of the user's aggregated spending amount and the population aggregated spending amount.  
   
     
     
         19 . A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism including: 
 instructions for aggregating a user's spending transactions with respect to at least one attribute of the user's spending transactions to obtain an aggregated spending amount of the user;    instructions for determining a population aggregated spending amount corresponding to the user's aggregated spending amount, the population aggregated spending amount derived from spending transactions of members of the population and having attributes that correspond to the at least one attribute of the user's spending transactions; and    instructions for generating a comparison of the user's aggregated spending amount and the population aggregated spending amount.